Justice League ‘Snyder Cut’ Petition Hacked, Says Creator

A controversial Justice Leaguepetition calling for the Zack Snyder cut to be released has been hacked, according to its creator.

The theatrical cut of Justice League left many fans seriously disappointed. Joss Whedon, who took over post-production after a family tragedy forced Snyder off the project, then came under heavy criticism. Fans of the DCEU claimed that Whedon had damaged Snyder’s vision of the film. It didn’t take long for one particular disgruntled fan to set up the aforementioned controversial petition, calling for Warner Bros. to release a director’s cut.

In the latest twist in the tale, the petition was given a cryptic update on Change.org earlier this afternoon: “Victory!” Fans were immediately confused, not least because Warner Bros. has not issued any kind of statement about a director’s cut. Taking to Twitter, the petition’s creator Roberto Mata explained he’d been the victim of a hack. Although the petition itself is still live, Mata’s account on Change.org has been deleted, and is no longer connected to the petition. It looks as though the cryptic “Victory!” update was posted by the hacker, and was likely referring to the deletion of Mata’s account. Check out Mata’s original tweet below.

The sad truth is that “victory” was never likely in this matter. There’s little evidence that the Snyder cut was ever completed. Fabian Wagner, Justice League‘s director of photography, has admitted he never saw a final cut — if one even existed in the first place. Worse still, the timeline just doesn’t fit for a complete Snyder cut. Whedon was recruited to work on post-production, including additional photography. Post-production includes elements as diverse as scoring, VFX, CGI, and even lighting. Any scenes shot prior to Whedon’s involvement would have temporary VFX, scoring, and CGI. They would be unfinished.

Another problem is that Snyder actually worked with Whedon on dialogue for additional photography. That means Whedon’s extensive reshoots will likely include content that was true to Snyder’s vision. Whedon replaced composer Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) with Danny Elfman only a week after taking charge of the film. As a result, Junkie XL would never have composed music for any of the additional photography. That includes scenes that Snyder would have actually wanted as part of the film. Restoring the Junkie XL soundtrack, as demanded by the petition, is essentially impossible.

If Warner Bros. do intend to release a Snyder cut, they will have to spend millions to finish it. They would need to consult with Snyder over the additional photography, and hire Junkie XL to compose music for these scenes. What’s more, the studio would then have to take cut scenes through the entire post-production process, including rendering expensive CGI and VFX. There are already estimates that Warner Bros. may lose as much as $100 million on Justice League, so there is no incentive for the studio to spend millions more.

Sadly, it appears the claims of “victory” are nothing more than a hack. According to social media, Mata is currently attempting to regain control of his Justice League petition. It will be interesting to see the next twist in this strange tale.